Assistants
by Arrhythmic Song
Summary: Yaoi, AU, 1x2. Heero as the scientist who's fired too many assistants for his own good ('Relena Darlian has left the building'), and Duo as the newly hired assistant. Their relationship buildup, crash and finale. Written for the 1x2 ML's Hatsukoi contest.
1. Distracting, Mr Yuy?

Assistants

* * *

Author's Note: Formerly titled _It's Called Being an Idiot_, this was written for the 1x2 ML's Hatsukoi Challenge, 2004. At the suggestion of one of the readers, it's been chopped into little chapters to make it easier to read. Enjoy the new, improved and edited version, with the scenes that didn't make the cutting room floor before!

* * *

Chapter One: Distracting, Mr Yuy?

* * *

Heero Yuy was incredibly irritated.

Incompetents generally made him pissed, more so when they got in the way of his work. If they didn't know what they were doing, they could go fly a kite or something else equally asinine- as long as they stayed well out of his way. There wasn't time to pick up behind the bumbling string of idiots.

No man is an island?

Heero Yuy was the living evidence that refuted _that_ hypothesis.

The directors of the Institute had pretty much on trying to keep track of how many assistants he had fired within the puny space of four months he'd been working there. Heero Yuy was brilliant at what he did. Engineering technology for war and other industrial purposes.

He just couldn't work with other people.

The list used to bribe him to work for the Institute included six-figure pay, twenty-four hour unlimited access to the building, not to mention the state-of-the-art lab and the adjacent living suite. And of course, the permission to run through as many assistants as he wanted.

The directors were beginning to think the last was a bad idea.

Heero Yuy was... difficult. He expected nothing less than perfection, and it was _punctual _perfection at that. The last person anybody would have expected to fail was Relena Darlian Peacecraft. Half a second ago, the secretary Hilde had grabbed a loudspeaker in one of her fits of exuberance and run through the place hollering, "Relena Darlian has left the building!"

That was five hours after she'd first gone into _the Labs_.

Also known as Heero Yuy's domains, the people working at the Institute had learnt to give it a wide berth. You'd think they heard human screams issue from it every so often. After Darlian had made her overly dramatic exit, Heero had walked into the director's office and chucked down a manila folder with a note on top of it.

The director had wisely thrown the note in the trash: no one would hire Darlian again, after she had received a referral from the field's genius saying 'Incompetent, stereotypically bimbotic. Needs brain transplants.'

The last assistant had gotten 'Brains of a rock. And that's insulting the rock.'

The last last assistant had gotten 'Stupid beyond the human limits of stupid.'

The last last last assistant had gotten 'You've sent me a trained ape'.

The last last last last assistant had gotten 'I asked for an assistant, not a janitor.'

All in all, Darlian hadn't done too badly.

"So who do you think we should send in now?" the director asked, an exasperated frown seemingly etched onto his face. "Yuy is entirely too hard to please. But we can't just throw him out- the work he's been doing on that new alloy is too good to pass up."

Having finished her announcement-of-Darlian's-demise lap of the building, Hilde Schbeiker paused in front of the desk, her face a study in thought. Duo needed a job... but a university student? Granted, he was about Heero's age... but then again, Yuy and Duo were miles apart.

However, the campus-titled Shinigami wouldn't be the sort to run crying from Yuy, no matter how harsh the Japanese scientist was to him. She hesitated another second, then spoke to her superior. "Well sir, I have a friend..."

* * *

Heero Yuy stared down at the file. They were sending him a college student. One majoring in human psychology. A psychology student when he was dealing with war technology and metal alloys. What the hell?

_If they're that desperate, I could work on my own. A college student? Who will probably know nothing about the specifics of my field? They're mad. _

He could still remember Relena Darlian's attempt to... _seduce_ him...

* * *

"_Morning, Professor Heero!" Relena sang, sailing into the labs. Of course, sailing in a short skirt is never a good idea unless you're trying to seduce the professor you're supposed to be working for. Heero's mental alarms flashed code red. _

_If Heero Yuy cussed, code red would equal something along the lines of..._

"_SHIT!"_

_Instead, he said, "Miss Darlian. Kindly wear a longer skirt from now onwards."_

_Slightly abashed at this atypical reaction to the skirt maneuver, Relena had nevertheless decided to persist. "Do I get a desk of my own, Heero? I need somewhere to dump my stuff..."_

"_The floor will be appropriate, Miss Darlian. And since this is merely a trial, there will be no need for you to have a desk. The work is already on the laptop there," and here Heero finally gestured at the glowing screen. "Kindly work out the chemical formulae, Miss Darlian, and I would prefer Professor Yuy."_

_Growing slightly peeved at Heero's resistance, Relena had quietly sat down to work. Heero made the mistake of settling back into the work routine and letting his guard down... Seconds later Relena slammed straight into his lap, apparently having tripped over a non-existent crack in the marble flooring._

"_Miss Darlian," he said, controlling the urge to puke as she- _Christ, is this woman trying to nuzzle my crotch?- _groped him, "Get out of my lap and out of my lab. _Now._"_

_She had stumbled on the 'getting up' part of the instructions- apparently her stilettos were not made for 'getting up', but Heero had anticipated this and quickly sidestepped, leaving her to bang her chin on the very sharp edge of the chair. _

_She had promptly burst into tears and run out. Heero breathed a sigh of relief. "Hallelujah." _

* * *

But he chucked the note of rejection into the dustbin. After all, it would be only fair to give this... Maxwell... a tryout first. Like all the rest.

Heero doubted it would be lasting a very long time.

* * *

From the moment he stepped in, Duo Maxwell made a bad, bad first impression. Dressed in black jeans and a forming-fitting black tee, Heero had to admit they made a startlingly _pretty _contrast to his eyes, a bright vibrant shade of violet. Not to mention that burnished chestnut braid that dangled down his back. But... Heero disapproved.

"Mr Maxwell, I presume. First off, I'd like you to know that casual dress is not tolerated here."

The brunette blinked at him a couple of times. "You know, it would be a bit more polite to introduce yourself first. Ticking me off first thing for my dress is not filed under 'civil greetings'."

"That's beside the point, Mr Maxwell. If there is to be a next time, you will wear something a little less..."

"Distracting?" the grin was dangerously close to a smirk, something Heero Yuy hadn't encountered in a long time. "Unless you can't take your eyes off my ass when I'm here, I don't see why dressing the way I do would disrupt your work."

"It's a matter of image," Heero explained, the hint of temper already in his voice. "There are people in and out of here all the time-"

"-and most of them are here to see _you_, Mr Yuy. Not your pretty college assistant," Maxwell cut in. "Or is your work that boring?"

"Who are you to judge my work, Maxwell?" Heero hissed. Not even five minutes.

"I'm the latest assistant in the string of those you've bored to tears," Duo replied sharply. What was wrong with this guy? _You got a stick shoved up your ass or something? _"And if you're that worried about image, why'd you fire Darlian? According to Hilde, she's got _image_," he retorted.

Heero opened his mouth to argue, but nothing came out.

"Beached, aren't you?" Duo leaped into the opening and glared. "For your information, _Yuy, _I think you'd better stop asking everything of everyone. From what I gather you act like you've got a stick shoved up your pompous ass, and I have to say I agree. Newsflash, there are at least a billion other people out there."

"About five billion, actually." The words were out of his mouth before Heero could hold them back.

"Not the point!" Duo yelled, half in frustration, half in amusement. Was work _really _all this guy lived for? "The point is that I'd like you to be a little more civil, or I'll walk straight out of here and tell Hilde I bloody quit!"

Silence.

And some more silence.

"In that case, Mr Maxwell, would you kindly start work?" Heero gestured to an open laptop, turning back to his own work without another word.

Duo blinked for a moment. _Not exactly civil, but it's probably the best this guy can do. I'll be charitable today. _"Good afternoon to you too, Mr Yuy."

Chemical equations. Simple enough- Duo flopped himself down into the seat- and winced. He was almost sure he had damaged his tailbone by just attempting to sit... he resolved to bring a cushion the next time.

Forty-five minutes later, Duo leaned back, popping his joints as he stretched out. "You've got a pretty nice place here, Hee- Mr Yuy," he quickly changed gears midsentence as the other brown-haired man shot him a glance walking the fine line between neutrality and hostility. Intense blue eyes, eyes that spoke- more than that pair of lips, at any rate. Lips that would be entirely kissable if he didn't frown so much...

While Duo was lost in his abstracted thoughts, Heero looked at him and wondered. _Okay. First, he walks in dressed like he's off to an early morning class. Yells at me. We start over as if nothing happens, and after forty-five minutes he attempts to call me by his first name. Is he alright?_

Heero asked him- wouldn't hurt to know.

"Just figured being friendly couldn't hurt, sheesh," Duo muttered. "Okay. So I don't call you by your first name, _Mr Yuy. _Would you at least call me Duo? Mr Maxwell irks my ears."

"The numbers won't crunch themselves, Maxwell."

_Well, better than having a 'mister' tacked to my name, _Duo thought to himself. "Wow, who woulda ever thought it. The pretty college boy's _done_."

"In that case, _Mr_ Maxwell, open the second document."

All of fifteen minutes went by before the other man opened his mouth again. "Just out of curiosity, why _did_ you fire Relena Darlian?"

"I do not tolerate stupidity, nor do I tolerate people looking at me like I'm a side of beef."

Duo's laughter filled the air. "Never thought you'd have a sense of humour, Mr Yuy. Then why haven't you fired me? After all, I _did_ quarrel with you the minute I walked in."

Heero turned to face Duo, eyes narrowing dangerously. "Shut up, Maxwell."

No words were said for the rest of the day.

* * *

"Do you suffer from verbal diarrhea or something?"

The question came after three hours of Day Two, which entailed more number crunching. Which, for Duo, meant being bored. And everyone knows that a bored Duo Maxwell talks. "Don't you ever try and communicate with another human being, Mr Yuy?"

"No."

"Great. He's PMS-ing," Duo stage-whispered, shooting a malicious glance at the other man. As Heero turned around to treat the braided boy with another Yuy DeathGlare™, Duo grinned mischievously. "Don't be mad at me. I'll behave, I promise, and I won't make even _one_ mistake. Pinky swear."

Even as his eyes widened at the childish phrase, Heero for once found his reflexes confused as a chestnut braid dangled down to pool in his lap, filling his nostrils with the scent of... _green tea?..._ as Duo bent down in one swift movement and hooked the end of his little finger around Heero's on the laptop.

Grinning, Duo Maxwell beat a hasty retreat to his desk.

_Maxwell; 1, Yuy; 0._

* * *

Author's Note: And here ends the first chapter. Look back for this in five days time: that will be next Thursday! And again, if you liked this, please leave a note! In the pretty, pretty, pretty little review section. The lavender/periwinkle/or just plain purple button awaits thee.


	2. Tempestuous

Assistants

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Author's Note: Alright, I figure this is abominably late. I'm sorry... heheh. Schoolexams, computer failure... life isjust bad sometimes." I don't really dare make promises for the thirdinstallment, considering how LATE this is... but I'll try for a week?

* * *

Chapter Two: Tempestuous

* * *

_At least he delivers on his promises, even if he makes them in an entirely stupid way, _Heero reflected, flipping through the stacks of papers Duo had pressed into his hand at the end of the day before throwing him a flying kiss and leaving Heero. 

Not a single mistake.

Duo flung an arm around Hilde's shoulders as they left the building. "What was with all those horror stories you was telling lil' ol' me about Yuy, Lady-O?" he asked. "It's a grouch, but it ain't all that bad."

Hilde swatted at Duo. "Quit the peasant brogue, Duo!" he laughed. "But really. Yuy isn't someone you want to cross. He could get a lot of us fired- we're just the grunts. He's the indispensable one, and the Institute would do a lot to keep him here. And so far, he _has _fired plenty."

"Maybe he was just entirely stunned by my astonishing good looks, then," Duo wisecracked, grinning down at the shorter girl. "Except for the fact that he had a problem with my dress code yesterday..."

Hilde's eyes widened. "I'm surprised you came back today."

"Wasn't too bad! I yelled at him, he yelled back, and I won. Simple."

"I should throw you a party. It'll be all over the newspapers tomorrow: Shinigami Battles Holy Terror Heero Yuy and Lives," Hilde joked. "But don't be too cocky," she warned. "Darlian was around for all of five hours."

"Yuy said that Darlian looked at him like he was a side of beef."

Hilde choked; laughing uncontrollably while Duo looked on in bemused amusement. "What? What's so funny?"

"The thought of anyone finding Yuy desirable! I'd rather go and sodomize a rock, Duo!" and she dissolved into fresh tears of laughter.

_Well then, Hilde baby, I think I better not tell you I think the man's got a nice ass._

* * *

Everybody in the lab was breathing huge sighs of relief. This Duo Maxwell had lasted three days in Heero Yuy's lab so far- had even come out smiling and in one piece. Gossip about just _why _this untrained college student was the 'chosen first' was rife- the most common one being that he was pretty. 

But others were quick to point out that the first assistant had been a pretty brunette male- and Yuy had promptly referred him to Menial Labor.

Actually, Duo was almost certain it was the fact that he wasn't afraid of Yuy. That he had barked and yelled and shouted at Yuy just as if the brunette scientist was another campus student. From what he had gathered from Hilde about the other five or so assistants, they had either been scared to death of Yuy, or looked at him 'like he was a side of beef'.

But of course, the others in the Institute didn't know this, and the gossip had gone so far as to suggest a sexual relationship between Duo and Yuy, though Hilde insisted that screwing Yuy would be like screwing a statue, or worse, a corpse. Upon which someone had promptly accused her of necrophilia.

The whole staff lounge suddenly went deadly silent as the object of their speculations waltzed into the room, an outrageous sashay in his step. "Hey!" he greeted exuberantly. "Where the coffee machine? I _so_ need a pick-me-up..." he trailed off, stretching his arms over his head, shirt riding up to show skin stretched taut over a lean, perfect stomach.

Hilde grinned, reaching out and slapping his ass. Duo yelped and treated her to a kicked-puppy-dog look. "Hildeeeee. You're so abusive..." he mock-pouted. "Take pity on poor, innocent lil' me..."

"You? _Innocent, _Duo?" Hilde giggled. "Don't make me laugh," she told him. "You, Duo Maxwell, are so not part of the equation for innocence."

He paused at the door, each hand cradling one coffee cup. "There's a first time for everything, Hilde darling." He winked, and then he was out the door.

* * *

"Here. Hope I got your tastes in coffee right?" Duo asked, setting the Styrofoam cup down in front of Heero. 

Heero looked up, eyeing Duo in surprise as Duo breezed his way back to his own desk. The smell that drifted over to Heero was strong, but it smelt of copious amounts of milk (and likely as not sugar) mixed in with the coffee. For himself, Heero preferred his coffee black without sugar- and it seemed like Maxwell had guessed correctly. After all, it kept him awake, and it helped him work.

"Seriously, Mr Yuy, I can't imagine how you live on that stuff," Duo threw over. However, Heero noticed the sound of rapid typing- those long, graceful fingers playing across the keyboard- never stopped.

"I've tried your type of coffee- the first- and last- time _that_ happened I was attempting to revise for my exams... woke up with the hangover from hell. You should try something a little sweeter- I'll share a little of mine with you if you want?"

Heero idly noted that the green-tea scent recently hovering in his lab was definitely a Maxwell's-hair thing. For one, the scent intensified as Duo came nearer and held the cup to his lips. Heero held up one hand, ready to reject it, but Duo pushed the arm down with one fluid motion. Heero tilted his head back, ready to treat the brunette to another Death Glare ™, but Duo merely smiled blithely down at him. "Just try... one little sip for the first time... _Heero_."

The name was breathed low into his ear, a soft, languorous sound. The two syllables of his name, dragged out and pronounced in a way that was both sensual and provoking. On impulse, Heero let his hand close around the paler one already handling the cup; hard enough to mark the pale skin a pink tinge before it wriggled away, lithe and agile like its owner.

Heero hid an involuntary smirk by lifting the coffee cup to his lips.

* * *

A week. Half-serious plans were being made to celebrate- which largely involved ordering several large pizzas to the staff lounge- and congratulate Duo on lasting the longest as Heero Yuy's assistant. If they noticed that once or twice he slipped up and used 'Heero' in reference to Yuy, they made no overt mention of it. Nor did they talk much about the fact that Duo now carried two cups of milk coffee out of the room. Granted, one was unsweetened... but still... 

Balancing a cup and Heero's slice of the pizza, Duo walked down the hallway to the corner laboratory that was Heero's. He'd never been in the adjacent suite of living quarters provided for Heero Yuy, who slept in the lab five nights out of four, but then again... nobody had.

Nudging the door open with his foot, Duo held back for the moment, just watching the picture that Heero made when he was hacking at the endless mountain of work. The brown bangs that would obscure vision would be shoved back every fifteen minutes or so by an impatient left hand, and the long legs were just placed there, unlike the way Duo sat- with his legs stretched out as far as the desk would permit.

Everything about Heero emphasized clean straight lines and his ruthless drive to do everything perfect, and then some. Everything about Heero emphasized his forceful personality- including the fingers that had closed round his hand. Duo involuntarily shuddered, then remembered that to back down in front of Yuy was the equivalent of suicide.

"Take a break, Heero, The work'll still be there tomorrow, you know."

"The point, Maxwell, is that the work'll still be there."

"The _point, _Heero, is that you don't have to work twenty-five-eight," Duo retorted, rolling his eyes. Ever since the coffee incident, Heero had suddenly relaxed- or at least relaxed sufficiently for Duo to call Heero by first name without getting killed.

Having no retort to that, Heero fell back on the customary "Hn."

One hand stretched out to take the slice of pizza- the other one stayed firmly on the keyboard, typing as fast as Duo typed double-handed. Duo shook his head in silent admiration. _This guy is like a machine. Perfect. _

"As your unofficial personal secretary, Mr Yuy, it is my sworn, solemn duty to inform you that you actually have to entertain a bunch of visiting scientists in regard to the development of the mobile suits. Sally Po specifically wants to talk to you about what kind of _pilot_ will be necessary," Duo added. "In a-bout three hours. Sadly, before that you have to entertain a bunch of giggly college students who'll' all look at you like you're' a side of beef."

Heero grunted. "Hn."

"Can't we have more than a monosyllable from you for once?" Duo asked exasperatedly.

"No, actually."

Duo burst out laughing, and the tension dissolved. "You, Heero Yuy, are just impossible."

* * *

Duo mentally filed _that _particular look under 'Heero-about-to-go-on-homicidal-rampage'. 

He also took careful note of the fact that Heero would probably snap the neck of the next dumb blonde who called him "Hee-chan... whoops, I mean Professor Yuy". Lips curling in a grimace, he carefully insinuated himself into their midst, slinging one arm around the shoulders of Dumb Blonde I and the other around Dumb Blonde II. "Ladies, Mr Yuy has a lot on his mind right now- there's an upcoming official visit in a short while." Winking at Dumb Blonde III, he said, "Come on. I'll give you ladies a tour of the labs."

'_People' is seriously being far too kind for the likes of the Barbie clones, _Heero thought to himself, sinking onto the chair and pillowing his head on his arms in a moment of weakness. _Thank God for Duo Maxwell._

As Heero reopened his soon-to-be-made presentation and continued working, his thoughts somehow strayed to Duo Maxwell. The man never seemed to shut up- sometimes Heero thought that he had some kind of weird disease or something, though that was impossible. But at least Duo talked sense... and Duo had always been punctual and careful with work.

Of course, there was the other factor: that within a matter of days Duo had managed to insinuate himself into Heero's life- hell, _everyone's_ life. His sheer force of personality was immensely likable.

And then Heero realized something that made him freeze in his tracks for a moment.

It was the first time he'd ever called anyone by first name, even in thought.

* * *

Duo carefully draped himself over the seat, turning to Heero with a half-dead look on his face. "They killed half my brain cells- not to mention my braid!" Duo whined, inspecting his braid mournfully, poking the bits where it was coming undone, clearly having suffered the mauling of Dumb Blondes I through to XII. "Ne, Heero, rebraid it for me?" 

Heero paused. "What?" he said incredulously.

"Please please please?" Duo begged, hopping over to Heero and bestowing the puppy-eyed look on him. "I _did_ save you from homicide charges... and braiding's really simple! Just separate the hair into three sections and weave under the middle one! Please please please..."

"Hn," Heero muttered, cutting into Duo's babble. "If only to shut you up, Maxwell."

Duo grinned at him and promptly flopped down into the chair, nudging Heero's legs apart and sitting between them. Digging into a pocket, he pulled out a brush and handed it to Heero. "Here. Comb it before the Blondie germs ruin me and my lovely hair."

Heero's rolled eyes were lost on Duo as Heero pulled the elastic band off the tail end of the braid, slowly unraveling it. The spice scent began to intensify as the chestnut came free to fall down a lean back in waves, caused both naturally and by the days spent conforming to a braid.

_Soft_ was the first adjective that popped into Heero's mind as he ran brush and fingers through the brown waterfall, resisting the strange urge to bury his nose in the other man's hair and breathe in the sheer sense of Duo. Tentatively, he began to braid, stopping for a moment to ask, "You'll tell me if I do anything wrong- if I hurt you?"

Duo's amazed blink was similarly lost on Heero too, but the note of pleased surprise was not. "I didn't know you cared."

Heero shrugged. "Now you do."

As he threaded his fingers through the hair, Heero brushed the back of Duo's neck. Something similar to electric shock blazed through his arm, and from the sudden shudder that pulsed through Duo, the longhaired man had felt it too. The same sensation that had passed between them the first time they had made contact, in what Heero had come to think of as the coffee incident.

Heero soon found the correct method and slipped into the easy rhythm of over under over under, enjoying how the strands of hair felt, pooled in his lap and all over his fingers, Duo bent slightly forward to give him space to tie the braid.

For once, Duo was silent, sitting against Heero as he was. In a flash of insight, Heero spoke into Duo's ear. "You prefer to be looking at someone when you speak to them. Am I right?"

"You, Heero Yuy, are _impossible,_" Duo drawled, dragging out the last word. "How'd hell did you figure that out?"

The motion of Heero shrugging moved as a relaxing of tense muscles in the Japanese man's body, movement that Duo could feel as the firm muscles relented their wound-up tautness. The thighs were the last to go lax, and flesh brushed flesh. Even through the layers of cloth, Duo could feel Heero pressed against him, and he wondered what those thighs, not to mention the rest of that gorgeous body would feel like, bare and pressed down on Duo…

_Chill, Duo, _he reprimanded himself sharply. _Fantasizing about your employer is the best way to get you fired... _

Still, he couldn't help but bite back a groan as Heero's fingers caressed the small of his back, brushing the top of his pants lightly. He breathed deeply, willing his body to listen to his brain. _I will not be aroused by the gorgeous scientist right behind me, playing with- well, technically _braiding, _but who cares- with my hair..._

Heero's voice broke into his failed attempt at self-control. "Done."

Duo whirled off his lap, picking up the braid and pulling it forward to inspect it. "Hey, not bad for a first time!" he exclaimed, beaming at Heero. "Thanks a lot!"

Duo found the sound Heero made as he received Duo's peck on the cheek highly satisfying.

* * *

The silence in the air was audibly pregnant. The other co-workers in the laboratory scurried about their work, not daring to say anything whatsoever, instead giving each other looks that screamed _I told you so. _

The aftermath of the quarrel that had driven Duo through the front door hollering behind him, "I FUCKING QUIT, YUY, I FUCKING QUIT!" had left everyone quivering and shooting apprehensive glances at the door that hid the form of Heero Yuy behind it.

No one knew just what had happened... just a while ago everything had been fine and dandy, peachy-keen. And then the visitors had showed up, left, and the next thing they knew even the soundproof walls of the lab wasn't enough to hold back the sound of the two men having one hell of a screaming match.

What was frightening was that Yuy had been yelling too. No one else in the lab had seen that cool, collected, cold demeanor shatter yet. When Yuy was mad, Yuy glared at you, made a cutting remark or two, mostly drove you to the point of tears. As a rule of thumb he did not have screaming matches with you.

And that was just plain scary.

* * *

Author's Notes: Do I say anything else? Review! Just so you know, this story was dissected into three chapters, so this is the second-last installment, technically speaking. Therefore... review? Please? 


	3. End Game

Assistants

* * *

Author's Note: Fwaha. Fear me. I have actually managed to (largely) stick to the promise I made in the last chapter- a week and a day, nyah? I feel so proud of myself...

* * *

Chapter Three: End Game

* * *

"Duo?" Hilde knocked tentatively at the door of the flat where she knew Duo lived. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, hey, Hilde," Duo greeted, swinging the door open with his usual smile, but it was blatantly obvious to Hilde that he lacked his usual enthusiasm. "I suppose you've come to talk with me about the blaring quarrel I had with Yuy earlier today?"

That was all Duo- straightforward and plain. Duo didn't like to beat around the bush very much. "Yeah," Hilde answered, feeling a little sheepish. "I know it's not really my place to ask, Duo-"

"Hey, hey," he held one hand up, stopping her babble midway. "Hilde, you're my best friend. And it's not as if the quarrel had anything private about it. It's just... Yuy drives me up the wall. _Up the fucking wall,_ Hilde."

She stayed silent, having been friends with Duo long enough to know that he would elaborate without her prodding him.

"Damnit, Hilde, sometimes I wonder if that man is human. The scientists showed up, and Sally Po- you know, the woman with the weird curly hair- she asked him if he thought that the human psyche was properly equipped to handle the planned Mobile Suits." Duo paused, taking in a deep breath. "Do you know what the fucking bastard said? He said-" here, Duo pitched his voice according to the lower timbre of the Japanese man's. "_In war they'll be equipped or die." _

The fury on Duo's face was not to be trifled with... and Hilde rather thought she knew what was coming up.

"So of course, I asked him _how_ later. Does he just intend to throw pilots out there into the field and see whether they can adapt? The heartless asshole suggested those who had nothing left to live for, or those who had suffered enough that piloting a suit of mass destruction wouldn't make any difference to their psyches. What kind of attitude is that, Hilde, _what kind of attitude is that?_" the braided male snarled.

"Duo..." Hilde said tentatively, approaching like one did a wounded dog- one who might possibly snap at even a helping hand. "Yuy doesn't know of your past."

"That's not the point!" His head, cradled in his hands a moment ago, snapped upright, rage burning in his violet eyes. "The point is that I and so many others lost my home and my family because of fucking asswipes like that guy! I'm not going back, Hilde. No way. I thought he was just straitlaced, but now I know he's disgustingly self-centered. Let's talk about something else, shall we?"

Accordingly, Hilde changed the subject, but privately she resolved to have a _little talk_ with Yuy the next day

* * *

Duo called up his thesis report on the laptop, sweeping the clutter on his tableaway.He had almost taken the road down to the labs after school that day, but at the last moment remembered that he was no longer working for Yuy and gotten off the bus in a foul mood.

_The human psyche was never built for war. The people who pull the triggers are those who have never seen the reality of what they are doing. That for every button they push another colony and thousands of families are rendered as ashes. If every world leader who makes these pompous decisions to play God could stand in the shoes of one little orphaned boy; war would not be part of human history._

_Despite the repeated examples, war has continued in human culture. From the beginning, it was in terms of survival: whoever got the woman got to continue his bloodlines, whoever got the territory got more space to hunt. But now it is for greed. Those not motivated by bestial (i.e. inhuman) factors must be distanced from his bloodthirsty work to continue. _

_As such, the work of Heero Yuy- the planned Mobile Suits, to be used in war, must be piloted only by bastards as heartless as him, who will not see faceless forms floating about in nightmares, crying for justice and blood in a vicious cycle. _

Duo frowned, then highlighted the entire last paragraph and deleted it. It certainly wouldn't do to condemn a scientist like Yuy in his thesis- it would get him and his ideals of peace nowhere whatsoever. But some niggling voice in him complained that it was true. What kind of pacifist would Duo be if he hid his viewpoints?

Nevertheless, this little voice was suddenly silenced by the sound of the phone ringing. He ignored it. If it were any of his friends, he would only snap at them, and they didn't deserve that.

To his surprise, when his answering machine picked up, it was Yuy's voice that rang out in his small apartment, crisp and sounding as if nothing at all had happened between them.

_My apologies for yesterday. Perhaps I was hasty in the statement I made to Po, and in the words I gave you when you tried to refute my point. Schbeiker has told me what she felt she could. All I can offer in my defence is that I was unaware. Again, I am sorry... Duo._

The house was silent.

* * *

Heero continued work in the lab, but somehow the words that Duo had flung at him continued to resound in his mind, disrupting his concentration, spoiling his work. Irritated, Heero strode into his room and into the adjoining bathroom, splashing cold water on his face before staring at himself in the mirror.

_Was Duo right? Am I really a bastard? _He wondered, staring at his reflection in the mirror. It had been a long time since he last saw himself... his hair was getting longer, he mused. It needed a trim... and his eyes. People called them Prussian, and even when he was in high school, one of the teachers- an old, grandmother-type whom Heero had felt could be trusted- had called them serious. Sad, even.

They had a reason to be that way... and Duo was the first person he had actually come to know who had shared that reason.

* * *

"So he's sick. Why are you telling me this, Hilde? It serves him right," Duo replied harshly.

"Duo, that's not like you. None of the rest of us dare to go near him, because he's snapping and snarling at any and all of us. Even the Director."

"Then what makes you think I'll fare any better?" Duo asked (quite logically too, he thought.)

Over the phone, Hilde made a noise that Duo had learned to identify as her are-all-males-quite-this-stupid-all-the-time? noise. "Let's see. How do I count the ways? First, you've quarreled with him and lived. You've gotten him to convert to milk coffee. You've survived longer than any other assistant has. Not to mention you've quarreled with him and lived. Has my point been taken, Duo? Get your butt over here and haul him into bed. We're getting irritated around here."

"Yes ma'am," Duo replied meekly. When the phone was safely back in its cradle, Duo muttered, "Yuy terrorizes lab and as usual? It's Duo to the rescue."

* * *

"Get your ass off that chair and into bed. Now," Duo commanded, standing in the doorway and giving the Duo-glare™ to Yuy.

Yuy replied with the Death Glare™, but even Duo could see that it lacked its usual bite. Yuy was definitely unwell- that much was obvious from the slightly pasty cast his skin had acquired in the four days Duo hadn't seen them, along with the dark circles around his eyes. "What happened to 'I'm never coming back', Maxwell?"

"Shuttup, Yuy. I wouldn't be back here at all if it weren't for the fact that you're pissing everyone else off. Now get into bed. GO!" The last word was shouted, and Heero stiffened, standing up, battle-ready despite his fatigue.

"Yuy, if I wanted to get in a physical fight with you right now, you'd lose it." Duo's grin was without the slightest bit of humour in it.

"Want to bet, Maxwell?" In half a second Heero had the other man's hands pinioned behind his back. _Odin Lowe, hovering over him, teaching him the ways of the cold, cruel world out there..._ "I know things that you don't."

"And so do I!" Duo spat back, wriggling out of the tight hold. _A street brat, learning little tricks of stealth and how to run away from those bigger than him..._ "Yuy, go to bed! You're in no shape to work like this."

"And who are you to talk to me about my work, considering how much you despise it, Maxwell?"

"Heero... I'm not going to talk about that. For goodness sake, just listen to me and get into bed. Go and rest. I'll get you something to eat... if you sleep now I'll even give you your laptop later."

Duo didn't know whether it was the less antagonistic tone he employed, or the use of the first name, or the cajoling and bribery, but the anger suddenly went out of Heero's eyes and he sagged. "Damn you..."

"That's it. Come on. Get out of that coat-" Duo dragged it off him, then continued briskly. "Then get into a comfortable shirt and pants and go to sleep."

Duo barely had time to take in Yuy's room before Yuy fell into the bed, clearly exhausted. "Yuy," Duo spoke softly, throwing the closet open. "You can't sleep in work clothes, you'll suffocate yourself." Throwing a white shirt at Heero, he said, "Get into that. Now."

Heero made an effort to sit up, but the bed was so warm... he just wanted to shut his eyes and sleep. Vaguely, he heard Duo make an irritated noise and walk over. Next thing he knew, a warm hand was supporting him and Duo was undoing the buttons on his shirt one-handed. The stuffy shirt was suddenly gone, and Duo's hands were all over him, comfortingly cool on fevered skin.

Irritated-noise-number-two, and next moment, the white shirt was over his head, and the blanket was being pulled out from under him. Capable hands rearranged him, and then the blanket settled over him. Instinctively, he fisted one hand in the sheets.

"There. Take a nap. I'll wake you in three hours..." Duo muttered.

For once, Heero seemed docile, nodding drowsily... even his 'alright' sounded vaguely childish and un-Heero-ish.

Before he left to get the chicken soup as well as a head start on Yuy's work, Duo was vaguely aware of a picture frame, set facedown on the bedside table beside Heero.

* * *

_Chicken soup in flask, check. Laptop, check. Work, check. _Duo thought to himself, back in the room, sitting beside Heero on the bed. He glanced at the sleeping form, curled up tight into a ball, then reached over and picked up the picture.

A little boy... a jolt flew through Duo as he realized it had to be a picture of a younger Heero... somehow, he had never been able to see the dark-haired scientist as a child, and even the expression in the picture seemed to indicate that Heero had been born serious. The man beside him bore him no resemblance... at the corner was signed... _Odin Lowe. _

_Whaa?_ Duo thought to himself. Odin Lowe had been one of the premier politicians in the peace struggle- which had managed to fall apart after he had been revealed to be an assassin of the highest caliber. Why had Heero been with this man when he was younger?

Duo decided that Heero had a lot of explaining to do when he woke.

* * *

Heero stirred, warmth all around him... a persistent hand was shaking him awake, and he focused blearily on its owner, entirely ready to tell it to go away and leave him in peace to get back to the oblivion of sleep. But then there was that aroma of soup wafting throughout the room...

"Hey, Heero? Wake up. There's soup waiting... come on, sit up..." Duo seized the pillow from behind him and propped in upright, forcefully pushing Heero back to recline on it. "Here. My chicken soup- homegrown recipe, so feel honoured. Store-bought has _nothing _on it."

Heero barely had the energy to raise an eyebrow, but he _did _do so when Duo raised a spoonful of soup to his lips and grinned. "You don't have to feed me, Maxwell. I'm not a child."

"Ah, but you're a patient. So just stop arguing and open your mouth. Be a good boy, Heero," Duo added, grinning at the rather offended look on Heero's face. Nevertheless, the Japanese scientist opened his mouth, letting the soup slide down his throat as Duo popped the spoon in and tilted it. "How is it?" Duo asked, for once not the college Shinigami and prankster, but the chef concerned over the taste of his food.

Heero merely let his lips quirk upward. "Good."

Duo frowned in mock outrage, but Heero could tell that there was really nothing of anger in the other man. "I'm offended. Just good?"

"Hn."

"Come on, admit it, it's the first time you've had soup like this," Duo jibed, teasing Heero as he held up the next spoonful.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes-hn, then!" Duo chirped.

"Hn."

The soup was soon gone, and Heero was feeling sufficiently back to his old self to request his laptop.

"Right here," Duo said, raising the slim computer. "I've done what I could in the way of calculations and the grunt work... there's a bit about the schematics of the design that I couldn't really cover, though."

"I thought you hated what I was doing."

"I do," Duo replied, staring at him straight in the eye. "Just that I can't hate you for what you're doing. It's a lucrative business, after all, and your rationale about the pilots..." he loosed a bitter laugh. "I suppose if you had asked me to pilot one when I was sixteen I would have. After all, as you said, what have they to lose?"

"No."

Duo glanced up at the other man, looking quiet and drawn for once- a wearier version of the Heero Yuy he was used to, a blaze of pain in the other's eyes. "It's not for the money- I would have gone out in one of them. Who better to pilot these things than their creator? After all... I had nothing to live for. Even now I'm not sure I do."

Duo's breath caught in his throat. Leaning forward, he subconsciously closed his hand over Heero's. "Does- does this have anything to do with Odin Lowe?"

Heero looked sharply at him, but soon subsided. "I should have known you'd look. Yes, this has everything to do with Odin Lowe, Duo. He was a surrogate father to me- picked me off the streets, or I would have gone your way and become a street brat too. The man was always gentle to me, but he never made any bones about the fact that he was an assassin and hoped I'd become one too." He paused, taking a deep breath.

_Why am I telling this man what I have never told anyone else? _

"Duo, when I first killed someone I was eight." Heero found his voice surprisingly steady as he waited for Duo's reaction- would the brunette man draw away from him in disgust, run out and tell everyone?

To his surprise, Duo just regarded him. "Why?"

"Because I believed in Lowe's philosophy. There were those against peace- you knew that. Those who wanted to keep their own power, and to talk his way around them would have taken far too long. I agreed. Humans will not listen if they do not want to listen-" Duo involuntarily nodded at that statement, "-so the simplest way was to kill them. My target was particularly difficult to kill... but who would connect the eight-year-old child with the cold-blooded murder?" Heero laughed harshly.

"After Odin died I swore that war would come to an end. I've kept my plans secret for ages. These plans for the Mobile Suits have been around since four years back, but I've been working on traditional warfare methods. What would be the use if we sat around and waited and talked? Duo, in war everything comes down to who has the bigger gun. Can't you realize that? I couldn't fight to protect Odin. But there are those out there who want to fight to protect their loved ones, here on Earth."

Duo took a deep breath. "Heero... I can't say anything. Hilde's told you my story- street brat, orphaned by war, yadda yadda. I just find that it'll all come back to a vicious cycle. They throw bombs at each other, and neither will come to peace. It just feeds on itself."

"Duo..." Heero's voice was small, tired. "Odin believed that peace had to be ushered in by armed might. I always thought he was right, until you showed up. Sometimes I wish I never met you, Duo Maxwell, because that would mean that I would be able to continue work without the doubts that keep plaguing me. Without seeing your violet eyes glaring at me... accusing me."

"Heero- Heero, I- I didn't mean what I said the other day. Not now. I was hasty- I admit I didn't know the full story. I- I'm sorry too," Duo stammered out an apology, but it wasn't the clumsy words that convinced Heero- it was the sincerity in the eyes that allowed him to read Duo Maxwell like an open book.

"How could you?" Heero laughed, a cynic, sad laugh. "There's no one else who knows of this. You're the first, Duo- in too many ways."

"How so?" Duo asked, interested despite himself.

"For instance- you're the first person I wanted to do this to." Suddenly lunging forward, Heero clasped his arms around Duo's waist and brought their bodies close in a tight embrace.

"Or how about this, Duo?" Closing the distance between them so fast Duo had no opportunity to pull free, he fused his lips to the American's. After a second, he turned the innocent, closed-mouth kiss into one that made Duo visibly sag into him by nibbling lightly on Duo's lower lip and parting them, running his tongue through Duo's mouth, chuckling lightly at Duo's soft whimper. Breaking the kiss, he murmured, "I've never kissed anyone, Duo- much less a man."

Duo gave him a smile that spoke of the tremors still running through him in the aftershock of their kiss. "Damn good for a first. Better than I'd expected my first to be, anyway."

Heero smiled almost lazily, picking up the end of the braid and wrapping its length twice around his hand. "I know we have our differences. But can we reconcile them, or failing that, live with them?" he whispered. "Will there be other firsts, Duo?"

"If- if you want them, Heero," Duo replied, eyes shining, a certain breathy catch to his voice. "If you will let me be first for you too."

It was five minutes later that Duo broke their second kiss, grinning at a sudden thought. "Well, it'll certainly be the first time I fall sick from a kiss."

* * *

Author's Note: And... That's The End. T.T Wonder if there's anyone who's as sad as me to see this go. I don't know when I'll be coming back to the Wing fandom... no inspiration, or actually, plenty of inspiration but no motivation. Ah well! I'll try! I'm Not Down Yet! And since this is the last... what can I say? R&R! 


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